Saturday, March 21, 2009

Dishcloths and potholders

OK, this may not be very interesting, but yesterday I made these six neat potholders and two dishcloths from vintage fabric that I think I either got in a box at an auction or a yard sale out of a free box. The fabric had been made into a curtain and was four panels sewn together...each panel was selvedged and 36" wide, typical for older fabric. Some of the fabric was stained, but most of it was good, passed the strength test (me pulling hard on both directions of the pieces) and was the coolest colors for my kitchen.

I have lots of cobalt blue in my kitchen with Delft windmill tiles so this fabric was perfect.

I washed the material twice to make sure it was wash-stable...then cut the potholders in 8.5" squares and added three layers of quilt batting (saved for me by my quilting mom and her quilting friend Margaret) to make them thick.

The dishtowels are nice because they are double faced, so you turn them over and they look the same on both sides. The material is soft and really absorbent, so will be great for dish cloths. I have other dishcloths made from feedsacks that are some of the best dish cloths!

The best of it all is that they didn't cost me a thing! I often give gifts of these pot holders to match the recipients kitchen--it does make an economical gift if you have a fabric stash to pull from!